“Politics,” I say, staring at the glass resting on my knee.
“What?” He cocks his head to the side.
“Politics are ugly.”
He smiles. I cross my legs together tightly and he holds up his glass.
“Now, that I absolutely agree with,” he replies.
We clink glasses and smile at each other, each smile growing more and more intimate and comfortable.
I sit back and nod, completely satisfied by pleasing this stranger, JP. Just two initials and I don’t even know what they stand for. First and last name? First and middle? Completely made up to protect his anonymity? The options are mysteriously endless.
“You from Seattle?” he asks.
“No, just visiting,” I answer.
“Friends?”
“Family. You?”
He nods. “Friends.”
I grin at him, wanting to reveal the ridiculousness of my visit. He notices my expression.
“What?”
“Have you ever been to a gender reveal party?”
He laughs, dragging a hand down his face. “Not yet.”
My jaw drops. “Is that why you’re headed to Seattle?”
He leans over the armrest. “Is that whyyou’reheaded to Seattle?”
We hold our stare for a moment, and I’m unsure if we’re about to burst out laughing or start groaning. Either way, it’s clear: we’re both headed to the same kind of party.
“Who’s having a baby?”
I narrow my eyes. “I don’t trust you enough to tell you that.”
“Fair,” he reasons. He doesn’t press, and the two moments of silence make me want to ask him a question.
“Who do you know that’s having a baby?”
“I don’t trust you enough to tell you that.”
As soon as he says it, I realize how stupid I sounded being secretive about my younger sister’s gender reveal party for her unborn child. But this man’s quick wit and ability to play a game I never intended to play with a stranger on the airplane is dangling in the air like a carrot on a stick.
“Fine. It’s my sister.”
He nods. “Younger?”
I tilt my head and answer tentatively, “Yes.”
“Is she named Emily?”
I lick my lips and smile.There’s no freaking way.“Yes.”
